The invention relates to a wide-area lamp. In wide-area lamps, for example automobile lights, bulbs are used as a rule, mostly together with a reflector. However, bulbs have only a limted life, and in addition their dimensions entail a relatively deep design.
By contrast, luminescent diodes have the advantage that they have a longer life and therefore operate more dependably, that they have a better electro-optical efficiency and therefore a lower energy requirement, and that shallower construction depths are possible thanks to their flat structure. Luminescent diodes are therefore preferably used where replacement of individual bulbs is awkward and expensive, and where high demands are placed in dependability, safety and long-term stability of the lamp.
Lamps for red signals with high-power LEDs are known from the periodical "elektronik industrie" 6, 1987, pages 43-44. These lamps have electrical connections in conventional vertical-strip design, i.e. the direction of the LED connections is vertical to the large area of the original semiconductor disc from which the LED element was cut out. These LEDs can be connected in series using a PCB.
However, these lamps have the drawback that the luminous efficiency is not optimum, that the connections must be made as vertical strips in a fairly expensive manner, and that a particularly flat design is not possible.